Alta Journal ’s California Bestsellers List (July 16, 2026)

With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal highlights the bestselling books at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the week ending July 12, 2026. This list includes bestselling fiction, nonfiction, and new releases, offering a snapshot of current book trends, popular authors, and must-read titles across California’s literary scene.

Beat the heat with two nonfiction page-turners on this week’s list. In A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst, Maurice and Maralyn dream about leaving their jobs, selling their belongings, and sailing away. In June 1972, they did just that—until a whale damaged their boat, and a carefree life at sea turned into a test of survival. In London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, Zac Brettler jumps to his death in the river Thames. As his parents retrace Zac’s final days, they soon discover he had become entangled with a shady businessman and a dangerous gangster while posing as Zac Ismailov, a fictitious Russian oligarch.

For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•

Southern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
2. Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
3. Country People, Daniel Mason, Random House, $30. See it on Alta’s list of new releases for July.
4. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
5. Land, Maggie O’Farrell, Alfred A. Knopf, $32

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
2. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden, the Dial Press, $30
3. Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32
4. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35
5. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, $34

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
2. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
3. The Odyssey, Homer and Emily Wilson (translator), Norton, $18.95
4. Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
5. I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman and Ros Schwartz (translator), Transit Books, $16.95

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder, Crown, $14
2. A Marriage at Sea, Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $20
3. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $18
4. Too L.A.: Letters Never Sent (but Some Were), Eve Babitz and Lili Anolik (editor), New York Review Books, $18.95. Read Alta’s review.
5. It’s Only Drowning: A Memoir, David Litt, Gallery Books, $19

Northern California

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Whistler, Ann Patchett, Harper, $30
2. Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke, Alfred A. Knopf, $30
3. Land, Maggie O’Farrell, Alfred A. Knopf, $32
4. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
5. Country People, Daniel Mason, Random House, $30. See it on Alta’s list of new releases for July.

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Land and Its People: Essays, David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30
2. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, $34
3. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32
4. Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children, Mac Barnett, Little, Brown and Company, $20
5. Famesick: A Memoir, Lena Dunham, Random House, $32

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20
2. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20
3. Project Hail Mary (movie tie-in), Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22
4. The Odyssey, Homer and Emily Wilson (translator), Norton, $18.95
5. Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $20

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. A Marriage at Sea, Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $20
2. Raising Hare: A Memoir, Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21
3. The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence—Before It's Too Late, Cory Doctorow, MCD, $18. Watch the Alta event with the author.
4. The Wisdom of the Odyssey: Twenty-Four Life Lessons from Homer’s Epic, Phil Cousineau, New World Library, $19.95
5. All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow, $17.99

Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Elizabeth Casillas

Elizabeth Casillas is an associate editor at Alta Journal. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, she has previously written for the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.